Coppertone Lawsuit Says SPF 50 Sunscreen Doesn’t Work

A customer in a Coppertone lawsuit alleges that the company’s SPF 50 sunscreen doesn’t work as advertised and caused her to develop chemical burns.

Plaintiff Joanna G. says that she purchased Coppertone’s Ultra Guard Broad Spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen, and used it as directed.

However, she claims to have developed serious chemical burns and permanent scars to her cleavage as a result of her use of the product.

Additionally, the Coppertone lawsuit states that the sunscreen does not provide the level of sun protection advertised on the package.

Joanna claims that she was physically, emotional, and financially injured by her use of the sunblock, because of her burns, and because had she known that the sunscreen would not perform as advertised and would cause her injury, she would not have purchased it.

She aims to hold Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer Healthcare LLC, the makers of the product, accountable for her alleged injuries.

The Coppertone SPF 50 sunscreen lawsuit also aims to hold Walmart, the seller of the product, responsible for her reported injuries.

According to Joanna, she applied the sunblock on Sept. 3, 2017, in Ontario, Calif., when the temperature was between 75 degrees and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The plaintiff claims that she remained in her home for around 15 minutes before exposure to the sun, and then spent an hour outside.

The Coppertone sunblock lawsuit alleges that Joanna woke up the following day with her skin irritated, which caused her discomfort and pain. She claims that on Sept. 5, she went to the hospital, was seen by a doctor, and was given a medicated cream to use on her chest. She says that the condition persisted, so she retuned to the hospital as advised.

Joanna states that on her second visit to the hospital, she saw a second doctor who saw the “blotches on her chest area,” and said “that’s a burn.”

The plaintiff claims that the medicated cream was not satisfactory in treating her symptoms, so she went to see a third doctor on Sept. 12, who diagnosed her with a “chemical burn.”

The Coppertone chemical burn lawsuit claim that these burns were caused because of Joanna’s use of the Coppertone sunblock.

The lawsuit notes that “the medical cost of treating the burn and removing the prominent scarring is out of [Joanna’s] reach” and goes on to state that Joanna was profoundly worried about how the scars would affect her look, and was “experiencing a profound trauma about the injury.”

Beyond the chemical burns, Joanna also argues that the sunscreen does not protect against “broad spectrum” UVA and UVB light rays as advertised, and only protects against UVA rays.

Allegedly, Bayer misrepresented the product because its SPF 50 designation does not just measure UVA protection and “the protection against UVA is significantly overrated.”

According to the Coppertone sunscreen false advertising lawsuit, the sunscreen’s active ingredient is known to degrade quickly after exposure to the sun, at which point its ability to offer sun protection is diminished.

The Coppertone SPF 50 lawsuit argues that Bayer misrepresented its product as being safe and effective in protecting a wearer’s skin.

The Coppertone lawsuit argues that the company should be held liable for manufacturing, distributing, and selling a dangerous product at did not “perform as safety as an ordinary consumer would have expected it to perform.”

The lawsuit was initially filed in a Superior Court of California but was removed to federal court on Dec. 19, 2018.

The Coppertone SPF 50 Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-02631-FMO-SHK, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.